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Iowa Grazing Workshops with Jim Gerrish Set for August

CHARITON, Iowa -- A series of five workshops featuring grazing consultant Jim Gerrish will be held in different locations across Iowa Aug. 18-22. Primary organizer Joe Sellers said each session includes classroom discussions and pasture walks at local farms, with Gerrish as the featured speaker.

“Topics include maintaining plant diversity to increase production and environmental benefits, using annual and perennial forage crops in your grazing system, and reducing cow costs with extended grazing,” Sellers said. “Jim’s experience includes more than 20 years of beef forage systems research as a University of Missouri faculty member as well as 20 years of commercial cattle and sheep production on his family farm.”

Sellers, who is a beef program specialist with Iowa Beef Center through Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, said each local meeting also includes brief updates on current Iowa forage and beef production topics.

“Presenters from IBC, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Practical Farmers of Iowa, and Iowa Cattlemen’s Association will share their expertise and information,” he said. “The host farmers also will talk about their experiences with a variety of pasture techniques.”

The fee for each session is $40 for the public or $20 for current Iowa Forage and Grasslands Council, ICA or PFI members. Walk-in registration is $10 extra. A Gerrish session is included in both the 2014 Greenhorn Grazing and 2014 Certified Grazier registration fees, so there is no additional cost for participants in those courses. Fees are payable to Lucas County Extension or to the local site coordinator.

The session dates, times, and locations are below, with each date linked to that specific session flyer. For more information or to preregister for any location, contact Sellers by phone at 641-203-1270 or email at sellers@iastate.edu.

In addition to his beef forage systems research and outreach, and commercial cattle and sheep production, Gerrish is well known for his work with the University of Missouri - Forage Systems Research Center. The center rose to national prominence as a result of his research leadership, which encompassed many aspects of plant-soil-animal interactions and provided foundation for the basic principles of management-intensive grazing. He co-founded the popular three-day grazing management workshop program at FSRC, which was attended by more than 3,000 producers and educators from 39 states and four Canadian provinces from 1990 through 2003. At least 16 other states have conducted grazing workshops based on the Missouri model and Gerrish has taught in 12 of them.